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"Put it back in the ocean. Don't you realise it'll cause a Tsumani?" : the power of wata no hara (the ocean plain) in gake no ue no ponyo
While Gake no Ue no Ponyo2 opens with a brief establishing
shot of five ships on the horizon, it is the moon and its reflection on the
water that dominate the frame. In this expansive scene, the ships are
specks, dwarfed and put into “perspective” by the moon and the ocean,
two traditionally feminine personifications of nature. From this point, the
film becomes, as Susan Bye identifies, “a visual paean to the beauty and
fecundity of the sea—the deep sea, which is beyond the reach of
destructive humans.”3
In this remarkable twenty-minute overture, a kind of oceanic fantasia unfolds. There is no dialogue, humans are not introduced: it is a celebration of nature in its purest, almost primordial form.
shot of five ships on the horizon, it is the moon and its reflection on the
water that dominate the frame. In this expansive scene, the ships are
specks, dwarfed and put into “perspective” by the moon and the ocean,
two traditionally feminine personifications of nature. From this point, the
film becomes, as Susan Bye identifies, “a visual paean to the beauty and
fecundity of the sea—the deep sea, which is beyond the reach of
destructive humans.”3
In this remarkable twenty-minute overture, a kind of oceanic fantasia unfolds. There is no dialogue, humans are not introduced: it is a celebration of nature in its purest, almost primordial form.
History
Journal
Japan Studies ReviewVolume
21Season
2017Pagination
155 - 170Publisher
Florida International University * Institute for Asian StudiesLocation
Miami, Fla.ISSN
1550-0713Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2017, Florida International University * Institute for Asian StudiesUsage metrics
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